Wolf Boy
by AuroreMartell
Summary: Lyanna Mormont knows she shouldn't go walking in the forest alone, but it's so tempting. Even when she knows there are wolves in the forest.


The woods, at night, have a strange eerie green tint that Lyanna has never noticed before now. The moss, the lichen, the bark- all has a sheen of color that she's never seen before.

Something about being here in the forest after midnight turns her stomach. It's like those heart-stopping ghost stories that Dacey would whisper into her ear when she was younger, the ones about the old lady who preyed on young children for food, or the deranged murderer who was searching for the ex girlfriend he had killed years ago. But Lyanna can tell the difference between story and truth. She's almost eleven, after all, a big girl, and isn't afraid of anything.

Well. Maybe she's a _little_ scared of wolves.

Because it's after midnight in the forest, and Lyanna can hear a wolf howling.

_Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon_, thinks Lyanna. The moon doesn't look much like corn to her, or even blue. It's more of a silver coin in the sky, or a big white eye. An eye, like the one in the ghost story where the one-eyed demon wanders the woods at night, searching for a young girl to give him his other eye.

_Aaaaahoooooo_...

The lone cry of a wolf. It is a sad and beautiful sound, but it's rather frightening.

Lyanna shivers and nestles into her cloak. Because she's cold. She's not scared or anything.

_AAAaaaAAAHHHOOOOoooo_...

Suddenly an old poem pops into Lyanna's head, some that all the little Mormont girls learned almost before they could talk.

"Little Red Riding Hood, basket in hand," quotes Lyanna out loud, her voice shaky. She doesn't exactly have a reason for reciting baby stories into the darkness, but it's not because she's scared. "The wolf's in the woods, he's made his own plans."

Dacey loved this poem, loved giving Lyanna and the younger sisters the creepy tingles that came from this eerie poem. "You're going to Grandma's with a basket of treats," Dacey would continue, swinging one arm along her side like a little girl with the aforementioned basket. Her voice would drop to a deep growl as she would finish the stanza with, "And you don't see his shadow, as it shivers and creeeeeps."

_AAAaaaaaaahhooooo_...

That verse would always frighten Lyanna the most, her hyperactive imagination making the tendrils of light spilling underneath their door into a shadow of a killer wolf, teeth bared, claws sharp.

Loudly, Lyanna goes on with the poem, to prove that she most certainly is not scared of any stupid wolves. "Now he's cut through the forest to get there ahead. He's run and out-foxed you, and soon he'll be fed."

That was where Dacey would pause and add, in a foreboding voice, "Do you know why the wolf is so dangerous in this story? Because he's smart. Do you know why he's smart? Because he's one step ahead of her. That means she can't run to her grandma because he's already there. Because he's taken away Red Riding's safety, her hope."

_aaaAAAAaaaOOOOHH_...

"For he's lean! And he's mean! He's fierce and he's keen!" Lyanna cries. "He's a hunter, a stalker, a killing machine!"

Dacey's story has taken hold of her brain, and Lyanna's teeth are chattering with true fear. The wolf, the real one in this very forest, is still howling, and Lyanna knows that this one will be just as cunning as the make-believe wolf. _She can't run, _Lyanna thinks_, because the wolf is already there_.

He's taken away her hope of safety.

_AAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOHHHH_

"Little Red Riding Hood, basket in hand," she declares in terror. "The wolf's at the door, it's just as he planned. He never knocks, to Grandma's surprise."

And then Lyanna hears it, the rough growl and snarl of the real wolf, closing in on her and cutting off the breath in her throat. Lyanna gasps, her ears following the crunchy steps the wolf is taking towards her. The howl in his throat is subdued, but she can hear it, the undertone of rage in his own voice.

"Pouncing, she's swallowed, to never know why." Lyanna is dimly aware of crying, and her hands are trembling. _Mommy, please, Mommy and Dacey and Alysane and even Lyra, come save me-_ but somehow Lyanna keeps talking. She is a Mormont, and she will not let the wolf know she's cowering.

"For a wolf's just a wolf."

She falls to the ground as the wolf barks at her, advancing toward her prone form. Lyanna closes her eyes.

"He is what he is."

She is whispering, almost into the mud, a poem and a prayer. She can feel the wolf's hot breath on her neck, smelling like blood, and she knows that if she looks up into his eyes the wolf will close his jaws on her neck and kill her instantly.

Lyanna wants her last thought to be of her family, so she flashes a picture of her mother and sisters through her head. Then she lifts her head out of the mud fully, eyes squeezed shut, and screams throughout the entire forest:

"HIS HUNGRY TUMMY WON'T AND CAN'T LET YOU LIVE!"

It is over for her, but she is not dead. Very slowly, and with fear coursing through her entire body, Lyanna's eyes open.

The wolf's eyes are bright blue.

"Little Red Riding Hood, basket in hand. You've reached Granny's cottage, it's just as he's planned," says the wolf quietly.

Lyanna does not know if this creature before her is a boy or a wolf. The hair on top of his head is curly and auburn, like a human's hair. His body is like a human's body, and he is even wearing human clothes. But his eyes are cold and blue and icy and so inhuman that Lyanna is certain that this creature is a wolf.

"See, granny, I've brought you a basket of treats," says Lyanna to the wolf. Maybe he'll answer her.

The wolf does answer: "Come closer, granddaughter, if you'd like to me eat."

"Oh granny, what big, shiny teeth you've got!" Lyanna volunteers, even if the real wolf has small, white human teeth. Dacey would always put on a high voice, fluttering one hand to her chest innocently.

The real wolf's blue eyes glint as he says the story wolf's last line. "The better to eat you with, and all those sweet treats you've brought!"

Lyanna almost expects the real wolf to go for her throat, but he stays in his hunched standing position. When he doesn't finish the poem, she does, in a clear voice. Because she's not afraid of him anymore because she's a Mormont and she's the bravest ever.

"Now, I hear the scream, the howl and the cry. Am I a hunter or just passing by?"

It was Dacey's favorite line because none of the younger siblings understood what the end of the poem meant. In truth, Lyanna still isn't quite sure.

The wolf grins, and even claps his curiously human paws together for her. "Very good."

"Thanks." Lyanna isn't afraid anymore, not truly, even here with the real wolf that looks human. She stares into his blue eyes, looking for something to make him appear even slightly human. She sees nothing.

"What are you doing here?" inquires the wolf, almost politely. "The animals here, they won't be scared of you if they see you here. You have to be scary. Like me."

Lyanna glances up at the wolf. "I don't understand."

He puts his face closer to hers, and she smells blood again. "The things in this forest, they'll kill you and eat you after."

"Not me!" protests Lyanna. "You could have eaten me. But you didn't."

The wolf shrugs. "I don't want to eat you."

Lyanna peers at the wolf, this creature with his human body and furious scary eyes. "Will you take me home? You can scare off all the other animals in the forest."

"Yeah, I can. But do you want to know the secret?"

"What secret?"

The wolf grins, his teeth bloody. "There isn't anything in these woods that'll eat you."

Lyanna feels cheated. "I don't get it. You're a stupid wolf."

"I'm not a real wolf. And you're not real either."

"Yes I am!" She's getting more and more confused, and angry. "I'm a real girl, stupid! And you're a liar, and you're stupid!"

"I'm only a wolf in your mind. And you're only an angel in my mind."

"An angel?" Lyanna steps back. "I'm no angel. I don't understand you!"

The wolf steps towards her, the smell of blood prominent. "I see you as an angel. Because I need to find an angel tonight. Don't you get it? And you're scared of wolves, and you're scared tonight, so you see me as a wolf."

She just stares at him.

"This forest is magic, angel girl."

"My name is Lyanna Mormont. I'm not a dumb angel. And I don't believe in magic."

"And I'm Rickon Stark. I'm not a wolf, even though I'd like to be. And I do."

"If magic is real, tell me this. Why did the forest make me see you as a scary wolf who wanted to eat me, and let you see me as an angel? It's not nice. If magic was real, it would have me see you as something safe."

Rickon Stark the Wolf smiles, a trickle of blood- real blood, or blood she's imagining?- flowing out of his mouth. "That's not how it works."

"Then how?"

"I can't tell you."

Lyanna is furious. "You're so stupid! I hate you!"

"I just mean I can't tell you now."

Her voice is soft as Lyanna replies, "When?"

"Tomorrow. We'll meet here."

"Fine." She turns to go.

"Wait!" Rickon Stark grabs Lyanna's shoulder. "Will you kiss me now? For protecting you?"

"What? No!"

"But you're my angel," he says petulantly, and Lyanna can suddenly see the shocking humanity in his eyes. "Please? I'm- I'm a little scared of the forest. I like being alone, but not all the time..." His voice fades away.

Lyanna bites her lip. She doesn't want to give some strange boy a kiss, Rickon Stark is a rather nice wolf boys. And he was her protector, if only for a little bit. Impulsively, Lyanna holds his shoulders awkwardly and presses her mouth to his. His lips are not wet with blood, as she had expected, which is relieving.

Clearly Rickon doesn't want to pull away when she does, so Lyanna pushes him off her. "You're gross."

"Sorry," apologizes Rickon, grinning a big smile. "Will I see you tomorrow, angel girl?"

"Of course. Wolf boy," she adds spitefully, rubbing her lips.

He laughs, and the sound is like a wolf crying to the moon.

* * *

A/N: Poem by Linda A. Copp.

Thanks for reading and please review!


End file.
